A regrettably awkward introduction to yoga.
When a yogi moves in next door, Emily learns enough to help him when he gets stuck.
Emily wonders why her new neighbor, Albert, “twist[s] himself into all kinds of strange positions on his front lawn.” He tells her about yoga and the mantra “om,” explaining, “It’s a magic word that everything understands….It helps me feel quiet and relaxed.” Emily tries it for herself but doesn’t fully realize its power until she helps Albert when he gets “stuck.” While this could be read figuratively, illustrations show Albert as literally “all twisted up,” with his legs and arms like twisted taffy and sweat beads on his face. This seems to poke fun, as does the “Dude! You’re totally stuck!” offered by a passing lifeguard. He and others try to help and struggle to figure out what Albert means when he moans “O…!” Nothing helps—not the phone suggested by the lifeguard, the garden gnome a police officer brings nor the poem of the librarian. There’s an odd dissonance in the humor—Albert seems to be genuinely suffering, and the others’ buffoonery, however well-intentioned, seems ill-placed. Once Emily steps in and says, “Ommmmmm,” Albert relaxes, and his arms and legs come “unstuck.” This inspires everyone to say “om” and use relaxation and yoga when they get stuck—figuratively or otherwise.
A regrettably awkward introduction to yoga. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-897476-35-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simply Read
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2014
It’s a bit hard to dance, or count, to this beat.
Dinos that love to move and groove get children counting from one to 10—and perhaps moving to the beat.
Beginning with a solo bop by a female dino (she has eyelashes, doncha know), the dinosaur dance party begins. Each turn of the page adds another dino and a change in the dance genre: waltz, country line dancing, disco, limbo, square dancing, hip-hop, and swing. As the party would be incomplete without the moonwalk, the T. Rex does the honors…and once they are beyond their initial panic at his appearance, the onlookers cheer wildly. The repeated refrain on each spread allows for audience participation, though it doesn’t easily trip off the tongue: “They hear a swish. / What’s this? / One more? / One more dino on the floor.” Some of the prehistoric beasts are easily identifiable—pterodactyl, ankylosaurus, triceratops—but others will be known only to the dino-obsessed; none are identified, other than T-Rex. Packed spreads filled with psychedelically colored dinos sporting blocks of color, stripes, or polka dots (and infectious looks of joy) make identification even more difficult, to say nothing of counting them. Indeed, this fails as a counting primer: there are extra animals (and sometimes a grumpy T-Rex) in the backgrounds, and the next dino to join the party pokes its head into the frame on the page before. Besides all that, most kids won’t get the dance references.
It’s a bit hard to dance, or count, to this beat. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8075-1598-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
If Black Lives Matter, they deserve more specificity than this.
A lushly illustrated picture book with a troubling message.
Little Lala walks with her father after his successful day of fishing. When Mama calls her home for bed, a host of “good night”s delays her: to the bird, the monkey, and even the rock. As Lala wanders through her village in the darkening twilight, readers appreciate its expansive beauty and Lala’s simple joys. Although it’s been artfully written and richly illustrated by an award-winning author of many multicultural stories, this book has problems that overshadow its beauty. “African veld” sets the story in southern Africa, but its vague locale encourages Americans to think that distinctions among African countries don’t matter. Lala wears braids or locks that stick straight up, recalling the 19th-century pickaninny, and her inconsistent skin color ranges from deep ebony like her father’s to light brown. Shadows may cause some of these differences, but if it weren’t for her identifiable hair, readers might wonder if the same child wanders from page to page. Perhaps most striking of all is Lala’s bedtime story: not an African tale but an American classic. While this might evoke nostalgia in some readers, it also suggests that southern Africa has no comparably great bedtime books for Lala, perhaps in part because American children’s literature dominates the world market.
If Black Lives Matter, they deserve more specificity than this. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-17384-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016
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